Thursday, September 22, 2011

Rep. Barnett to be Honored by Those He Serves- The State Highway Commission

State Rep. Johnathan Barnett (R) Siloam Springs, will be honored by the people that he serves so tirelessly- the State Highway Commission. They have voted to name a portion of Highway 412 after Barnett. Barnett says he was unaware of their plans.

The residents of his district who Barnett is technically supposed to be representing may have a different view. Talk Business' report on the story mentions that Barnett may get a rare challenger in the Republican primary.﻿ When the panel of Activists assembled by Arkansas Watch ranked Barnett #8 on the list of "Ten Worst Legislators in the State of Arkansas" here is part of what we said.....

It seems like this former member of the highway commission spent as much energy representing the commission as he did his district. It is OK to specialize in transportation, but Barnett’s time on the commission seems to have narrowed his imagination on solving transportation problems rather than giving him a strong foundation for improved solutions. Asking for a tax increase for your favorite commission during the Great Recession does not qualify as creative problem solving, especially on something that is supposed to be his strength!

Those words were true at the time they were posted, but sometimes events like this occur to highlight just how true.